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Psychology in UX

The capacity of the human brain to process information has remained the same—even as the number of types of users for software-based Internet connected devices has increased at an exponential rate. The field of psychology, especially cognitive psychology has, among other things, focused on understanding the processes by which we store information, make decisions, and communicate with others. Understanding the research and the theories of cognitive psychology can help information architects to create better user experiences. Here are 7 +/-2 things that we should all know before attempting to design a system that interacts with human users...

Have you ever been confused while making a choice within a Mobile App? It is always easy to subscribe to a product for free, but do you find it hard to unsubscribe sometimes? For example, you can enjoy a certain product or service for free in a week, however if you don’t unsubscribe because you forget or find it difficult to find the unsubscribe option, they will start billing your credit card automatically. Such example is called a Dark Pattern. Dark patterns are one of the way where UI Designers attempt to confuse the user by making certain actions as difficult as possible. It’s a way which some information is hidden from the users. It’s still can be accessed through there might be previous steps, such as canceling a subscription. Dark patterns also attempt to persuade the user to do other things that they wanted in the first place, for example placing a sponsored advertisement at the most prominent position in your mobile screen.

Human Cognition

Delivering a good user experience requires that first you find out the functionalities that will answer their needs; second, you need to guide them to the specific functions they need most. If users end up stuck in the decision-making process of “what next?”, they may become confused, frustrated, or leave your website. Hick’s Law is a simple idea that says that the more choices you present your users with, the longer it will take them to reach a decision. It’s common sense, but often neglected in the rush to cram too much functionality into a site or application. As a designer, you will use Hick’s Law to examine how many functions you should offer at any part of your website and how this will affect your users’ overall approach to decision making.

There are multiple ways to evaluate interfaces and identify areas of improvement, one being usability heuristics, or design principles. Nielsen Norman’s 10 Usability Heuristics (published in 1995) are by far the most popular set and are widely used. However, there are alternatives, albeit much less known. One of them covers Cognitive Dimensions: they were created more than 20 years ago and have a special focus in programming languages, but are incredibly relevant to design today: its principles (as you’ll see below) can still be applied to all digital products that we interact with, and help to create better, more usable interfaces. The Cognitive Dimensions Framework was first introduced by Thomas Green (University of Leeds) in 1989/1991. A few years later in 1996, Thomas Green and Marian Petre developed a lengthier analysis of programming languages using the Cognitive Dimensions, which explored in more depth how each Dimension worked and should be used.

Human, AI and UX

Anticipatory Design is an upcoming design pattern within the field of predictive user experiences (UX). The premise behind this pattern is to reduce cognitive load of users by making decisions on behalf of them. Despite its promise, little research has been done towards possible implications that may come with Anticipatory Design and predictive user experiences. Ethical challenges like data, privacy and experience bubbles could inhibit the development of predictive UX. Anticipated user experiences are a promising development that releases us from our decision fatigue. With the approximately 20.000 decisions we make on daily average, most of us are suffering from it.

Neuroscience & UX

Peer inside the brain of someone learning. You might be lucky enough to spy a synapse pop into existence. That physical bridge between two nerve cells seals new knowledge into the brain. As new information arrives, synapses form and strengthen, while others weaken, making way for new connections.
You might see more subtle changes, too, like fluctuations in the levels of signaling molecules, or even slight boosts in nerve cell activity. Over the last few decades, scientists have zoomed in on these microscopic changes that happen as the brain learns. And while that detailed scrutiny has revealed a lot about the synapses that wire our brains, it isn’t enough. Neuroscientists still lack a complete picture of how the brain learns. They may have been looking too closely. When it comes to the neuroscience of learning, zeroing in on synapse action misses the forest for the trees.

Video

This session will provide an in-depth look at human perception and cognition, and its implications for interactive and visual design. The human brain is purely treated as an information processing machine, and we will teach the audience its attributes, its advantages, its limitations, and generally how to hack it. While the content will provide a deep review of recent cognitive science research, everything presented will also be grounded in example design work taken from a range of Google applications and platforms. Specific topics will include: edge detection, gestalt laws of grouping, peripheral vision, geons and object recognition, facial recognition, color deficiencies, change blindness, flow, attention, cognitive load balancing, and the perception of time.